AG says advice not fully implemented yet, as NLESD points to progress on financial fixes

Years after a spending scandal at the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District, the auditor general says recommendations to fix financial oversight issues haven't been fully implemented.

But NLESD officials say an incredible amount of work has already been done, and they are surprised and disappointed at her comments.

An audit completed three and a half years ago found "pervasive" problems at the school district, with a history of repeated fiscal rule breaking.

"Anybody that looked at our 2018 audit would know there were many examples in that audit of small dollar items that were very shocking that they could even happen," Auditor General Denise Hanrahan told CBC News this week.

"And so that's why we're disappointed that it's not fully implemented given the significance of that audit."

But top NLESD brass say they are disappointed in the way their efforts have been presented in the report issued this week.

"I understand that the role of the auditor general is to highlight some of what could be areas that we can improve on," CEO Tony Stack said.

"We just felt that there could have been more attention paid to the significant achievements that have been made."

Stack added that most of the work is near completion.

The 2018 auditor general's report generated widespread public attention at the time, because of unusual purchases made with tax dollars.

That included $735 paid to rent a wheelbarrow for two weeks, and another $740 to rent some extension cords.

A purchase order for lawn maintenance was issued on a stormy day that saw more than 15 centimetres of snow fall, just before Christmas 2013. The company that got that purchase order wasn't actually in the lawn mowing business.

The audit zeroed in on the facilities branch of the school district's eastern region over a five-year period, from 2011 to 2016.

The 2018 report from the auditor general made recommendations in two key areas.